Michigan Basketball: How to watch, key storylines vs Wisconsin

The Michigan basketball team hasn’t played a game since Jan. 22 and this Sunday, after what will be more than three weeks of being out, the Wolverines will return to the floor to face Wisconsin.

While the Badgers are 9-5 overall in the Big Ten, having lost three of their last six, they aren’t as big a threat to win the Big Ten title as they were at one time, but for Michigan basketball, this is still a huge game, especially with it being on the road.

The one positive is that Michigan has been able to practice this past week. That’s better than having to play without having practiced for two weeks, with only a couple of days to work.

However, this game is still going to be a challenge. The Badgers have been struggling and for some reason, haven’t been shooting the ball well at all.

If that continues, Michigan should have a good chance. But, the Badgers aren’t going to stay in their slump forever and this matchup in Madison worried me before the Wolverines had to take a two-week pause.

Historically, at least when Wisconsin has been good, this is the kind of game you hope to win, but don’t really expect to win.

The thing for Michigan is that the margin for error isn’t very big right now. We don’t know how many games the Wolverines will play and so if winning percentage decides it, teams that have played more games will have an advantage.

Losses will be more costly to the Wolverines and the schedule ahead isn’t easy. Winning this game would make me feel much better about Michigan’s chances of winning the league, since it would show rust won’t really be a factor.

But we just don’t know what to expect, which is essentially what Juwan Howard told the media this week about the matchup. His team is excited and they said they would meet the Badgers on a playground if they had to.

Wisconsin is still ranked as the No. 12 team according to the Kenpom rankings and in that regard, the win over the Badgers in Ann Arbor is still the best win this team has had in terms of those rankings.

The Badgers also still have a top-10 defensive in terms of efficiency, so even if Wisconsin struggles some on the offensive end, if U-M is sluggish, which could be expected, it could be one of those grind-it-out games we’ve seen so many times in Madison.

As for how to watch, stream and listen, here you go:

Key info:

Game 15: Michigan at Wisconsin

When: Sunday, 1 PM EST

Where: Kohl Center (Madison, WI)

TV: CBS

Stream: CBS Sports APP

Radio: mgoblue.com